Family sessions are one of my favorite sessions.
Taylor reached out to me months in advance asking to reserve a date for her family session in Athens. I'd previously done a newborn session for them the year before, and nothing quite makes my heart sing like advanced bookings and repeat clients. Seriously! If you want to make your photographer happy, book them early! I had very fond memories from our newborn session (it was the first one I'd ever shot) and I was super excited to do photos again a year later.
Taylor chose Harris Shoals Park in Athens, Georgia for their family shoot location. I'd never been here (despite being an University of Georgia graduate) but it's super stunning in the fall. The rocky shoals were waterfall-like and the bridges throughout the park were surrounded by orange leaves and warm light. The colors were gorgeous and the Fourmans picked out the perfect colors to compliment the early fall tones.
Oliver, naturally being a one year old boy, had no interest in paying attention to me or smiling when I held my camera to my eye. I quickly realized that none of my usual tricks to keep little ones entertained were going to work and happily rose to the challenge to keep his little self entertained. We played some games like "pass mommy and daddy this leaf", talked about doggies, and even distracted him with some balloons.
One special thing I did for this session was re-create a photo for Taylor that we had made the year before.
In their previous session, I had take the image below on the left. Taylor texted me after I delivered their photos and told me how much it meant to her - the opal ring she is wearing in the image was in remembrance of the baby she had lost in a miscarriage prior to Oliver. She told me back then that having both her babies in a photo meant the world to her. During this year's family session, that memory was lingering in my mind and I decided to go ahead and try to recreate the image (photo on the right).
One other fun thing we did during the Fourman's session was take some time for just Mom and Dad pictures. There wouldn't be a family session to do without the parent's love for each other!! I absolutely love doing this for the husband and wife during a session and recommend that, if you have little ones, bring someone along who can watch them for 20 minutes or so while we go get lovey-dovey in front of the camera. Kiddos under 6 typically only have a 30 minute attention span for photos anyway so it's the best way to use up your hour slot.
The whole session was a blast! Can't wait for next year's update. If you're interested in a family session, make sure to fill out the contact form on my website. Check out some of my other favorites from this session:
